Day 3: Trespassing in Medusa's lair (Moira & James)

[jamesthorn]

Waking up is an out of body experience. He shoots up from couch, immediately on alert, reaching for his gun that isn't there. Where is he, he asks himself in a panic. Then he remembers. He is trapped in a place that has no name. With Moira Coombs, he thinks, looking down at the white cat curled up near him in a ball. He sighs after a second, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, wishing he had woken up to just a bad dream. But it looks like another day in hell.

As he stands up from he couch, yawning and stretching, he realizes that they must have slept for hours, long enough that he feels fully rested, energetic even. He glances around the small cottage, around the kitchen and all the furniture. It would almost be cozy, if he didn't know it belonged to an evil temptress with snake hair. Still, there was at least food here. He stumbles into the kitchen, rummaging through a cabinet. He immediately sees something that looks like a loaf of bread and a wheel of cheese. He puts it on the counter and pulls off a bit for himself. There are eggs and milk out on the counter, but this is enough to soothe his aching stomach for now.

He wants to get a better feel for the place, so he wonders back down the passageway that leads out into the garden. Eating his breakfast as he goes, happy to see no further threats of danger. It means they've found a reasonable safe return place. If they go exploring for an exit, at least they can return here for food and sleep. It's more than they had yesterday. 

He takes his time checking out the garden, hoping to find more tools. Something they can use for weapons. Just in case. All he finds are a couple of hand shovels and some buckets. But he does find a few vines of tomatoes and some fruit trees. He collects some of the food in a bucket to bring back with him. He knows he's been gone awhile, and he figures Moira should be up by now. Before he returns, he stops near the pond to dip his hand in the water, using it to wash the grim and dirt from his hands and face. He wishes desperately there was running water to take a real shower. He wonders what Alex and Grant are doing today. If they are out there searching for him. If they are even close to finding them. 

Even though he knows it might be wishful thinking now, he wants to go home.

Comments

[chasingtwisters]

Moira stirs when she feels the space beside is empty, and for a split second, she panics, wondering if they had let their guard too soon and something like that giant ass spider came in and took James while they had both been unconscious and vulnerable. But then, the logical part of her kicks in, reminds her that if anything nasty were to get in, she wouldn't be alive, either. Still, she can't find James, and that worries her more than she cares to admit.

She stirs and stretches, surprised to find she has her energy back. They must have slept a good while, then. Her thoughts flicker to Siren Cove, all the people in it that she misses dearly. Riley, Lara, her siblings. She hopes they're doing well, and she also hopes they're out looking for her, though she doesn't want them to worry too much. Her mother...well, her mother is probably laughing over a glass of her favorite red wine.

But it doesn't do for her to dwell, so she leaps down from the couch, sniffing in the air, searching for any sign of James. She perks up when she catches a whiff coming from the garden. She bounds in that direction, finding James kneeling by the water and washing up. It's almost an attractive sight, she has to admit, James washing up like some rugged camper. But she shakes her head clear of that thought before making her way over to him.

"Mew?" She says in greeting before leaning down to take a long drink of water.

[jamesthorn]

It's odd, the feeling of security and calmness, after what James has experienced the past two days. Having your life constantly in jeopardy isn't easy on the nerves, so he appreciates the extra few moments of silence. From the trickle of the pond beside him to the robust fruit trees, this is almost a normal place. He sighs to himself, wishing again, he had some means of contacting Grant or Alex or anyone else at the station. The woman had said they were still in town, which means they could still be found, but James has no idea how this place even exists, let alone what part of town. He is positive they are somewhere out in the woods, but once you get out near the lodge, the woods get denser and the coast almost impassable for miles.

But there isn't time to dwell on the dire circumstances of their situation before Moira comes up to him, leaping effortlessly onto the edge of the pond's rock enclosure. He watches for a second as she drinks a morning sip of water, still a little weirded out by the cat thing to be honest, now that he has time to think about it.

"So is this a permanent thing or....?" He asks, gently flicking the end of her tail with his fingers. Because if somehow they do get rescued, and he's the one that has to explain Moira Coombs got turned into a cat, he isn't positive he'll know what to say.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira thinks this might be like how normal people live...with normal lives? She can't begin to grasp how people live with the kind of comfort and protection the whole white picket fence fantasy provides, and yet, here with James now, not being hunted by deadly insects in a tranquil garden, it's hard not to wonder what her life could be like if she weren't who she was and they weren't currently cut off from the rest of the town.

She pauses at the flick of his hand against her tail, considering it. She didn't have the energy yesterday to try and combat the magic of the charm that rendered her into her cat form. Now, after a good night's rest, or so it seemed, Moira realizes she can make an attempt, at least, to get back to her human form, even if it does mean winding up naked in the presence of James Thornton. Again.

"Mew!" She tells him, before bounding off for a more private area in the garden. She manages to hide behind a pair of thick, overgrown bushes, before concentrating with all of her might.

In a matter of moments, and a flash of white light later, Moira is hunched on her own human legs, stark naked.

"Okay, it worked!" She calls out to James. "Can you bring me my clothes?"

[jamesthorn]

When Moira bounds off, James shrugs to himself, figuring she has cat business to go tend to, whatever that may be. He picks up the bucket with the small batch of vegetables he collected and walks over to the stairs. He is startled by the sound of Moira's voice behind him, her human voice, asking if he'll bring over her clothes. He glances around the garden, only to see bushes off a little ways, shaking with movement. He can see flashes of skin and the top of Moira's head poking out from the side. "Uh---" James averts his eyes away because that seems the decent thing to do, and because wow awkward. "Yeah. Just. Gimme a minute."

He heads back through the passageway, dumping the vegetables off on the small wooden table. He finds where he had left the bundle of Moira's clothes and returns to the garden as quickly as he can. "Um. Clothes," he says, approaching the spot where she's hiding. He places them on the ground, pretending the bush is covering everywhere it needs to cover, which it mostly is thank goodness. Then he heads back inside so she can dress in private, and so he can forget that just happened.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira waits as patiently as she can, watching James awkwardly drop off her clothes before averting his gaze and hurrying back inside, as though he were intimidated by her nudity. The thought makes her smile as she quickly dresses herself, relieved to be back to human form and quite hungry, now that she thinks about it.

"Hmmm," she murmurs as she spots an apple tree on her way to the house. She plucks a particularly red fruit and bites into it as she heads into the house, savoring the juiciness of it as some of it runs down her chin and feeling refreshed for the moment.

"So what next, partner in crime?" She grins at James from the doorway.

[jamesthorn]

Once back inside, James decides he needs more to eat. The only problem is this isn't exactly a modern four-star hotel. It's very much rustic in all furnishings. Instead he makes due with a couple of tomatoes, just biting into the side of it, savoring the tangy ripe flavor. Considering how hungry he is, this alone is enough to make him happy.

He glances up when he hears Moira, turning his head over his shoulder from his position at the kitchen table. He takes in the look on her face with a raised eyebrow. He sighs to himself, knowing that continuing on as if their situation hasn't changed would only put them in danger again, makes them vulnerable if they aren't in this together, and he supposed they are calling a truce of sorts. For now. So he shrugs at her leaning back in his chair, taking another bite of the tomato in his hand.

"Dunno," he says. "Guess we keep looking for a way out."

[chasingtwisters]

"Probably not a bad plan," she agrees, finishing up her apple and suddenly finding herself famished for more. She goes over to the fridge and pulls out a bottle of milk, sniffing to make sure it isn't spoiled. Delighted to find it still fresh, she takes a long, slow swig of the milk. She puts it back and finds a carton of eggs and some fresh greens, and when she comes across the package of bacon, she is suddenly struck by an idea.

"Before we do that though, would you want an omelette and some bacon?" She offers to cook. It would be selfish of her just to cook for herself and she does kind of owe James for looking after her as a cat and her clothing. Plus, they could both use the protein and nourishment such a breakfast would provide.

[jamesthorn]

Does he want breakfast? James is certain for a second that the evil woman has returned over night. Truce or no truce, Moira surprised him by offering to do something, almost nice, for him without being forced. He hesitates for a second, but then he sees the food she is places out on the counter. His stomach aches with approval over the suggestion of a hot meal, and it is a nice gesture, he thinks.

"Okay..." James finally says. "I'll just go see if there are other things we can use..." He is still determined to find some weapons.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira can see the gesture catches James off guard, and she finds herself oddly pleased that it does so. See, I can be nice, she wants to say, but she refrains. Even if they have to return to their less than pleasant current reality, Moira can at least ease the transition with a good breakfast.

She's even more strangely pleased when he accepts her offer, though she manages to contain the beginnings of a smile she thinks she feels growing on her face. The hell was in that milk? she thinks to herself, that she'd want to actually, sincerely smile at James Thornton?

"Fair enough. Breakfast should be ready when you get back," she replies as he makes his exit, immediately setting to work by grabbing the eggs and all the utensils she'll need. There's something cathartic about beating the egg yolks and the vegetables together; cooking like this gives her a chance to vent her pent up frustration at how she ended up in this situation to begin with.

[jamesthorn]

For the most part, the cottage itself is bare. Aside from furniture and necessities, there weren't any distinguishable fixtures which made James think that perhaps this place was dreamed up along with the evil woman. She wasn't a real person, which means, she had no need for personal belongings. There wasn't even any clothes in the closets or the small dresser he finds. It's just empty.

On the other hand, near the back of the place, he does find what appears to be a utility closet. Has a broom and mop that sort of thing. A pair of old gloves and a shelf full of jars with things floating inside that James doesn't want to look too closely at, as some of them appear to be moving about and watching him. On the ground, he finds one long knife. Not quite a sword, but something to cut back foliage. Probably when the woman used to trek through the woods. He finds a couple of shoulder bags too which may come in handy.

After he's collected what he needs, he heads back into the front where Moira is fretting through the kitchen. It smells like onions and eggs. "Found this---" he drops the knife on the counter. He observes what she's doing near the stove for a second. He's never really imagined Moira doing normal things. "So you cook..."

[chasingtwisters]

Moira isn't an outstanding cook by any means, but she is more than competent, a trait gained by a fierce desire to best the snobbish Matilda Gould at something back in high school. It was a hobby she also gleaned from watching her dad, who, like her, wasn't a sous chef, but took pleasure in mixing ingredients together to form an entirely new outcome. In its own way, cooking proved to Moira to have its own magic.

Cooking allows her time to lose herself in her thoughts, and so she drifts between pouring the omlette mixtures and bacon onto pans and putting them on the stove and her own memories in the kitchen with her father. She still remembers when he taught her how to make witch pancakes; she smiles.

It's in this state that James finds her as he enters the kitchen and drops the knife. Moira raises an eyebrow at the weapon, recalling that they do, in fact, have work to do if they want to make it back home.

"I do, and not just the eye of newts, either," she cracks, flipping the bacon over to cook it more fully. "Surprising, I know."

"That's a nice knife," she comments. "Find it hidden under the mattress?"

[jamesthorn]

The jokes are different too when they aren't followed by idle threats, James thinks to himself. He slips in a chair at the table. As she continues cooking, he uses the edge of his shirt to wipe the dirt and cobwebs from the handle. The blade itself could've used a good sharpening, but in a struggle, it would do. Considering they had faced off against a giant spider two days with nothing at all, James would take it.

"Might as well have," he says, shrugging. "The thing I don't get. There's an entire damn maze or whatever down here. Somewhere in town. How did no one know it existed?"

[chasingtwisters]

Moira watches James out of the corner of her eyes, the way he slides easily into a chair and starts cleaning the weapon. Very matter of fact, but his manner appears more relaxed than she's ever seen him, even as he's appraising the blade of an old sword. There's almost something amusingly domestic about this entire scene, she thinks, as she finally finishes cooking and prepares them each a plate, complete with what remains of the milk in the fridge.

She sets down James' plate before him before sitting across from him, digging into her own meal. God, but an actual breakfast tastes so damn good. She really ought to appreciate the simple things in life more.

"Magic," Moira says, shrugging in between bites of food. "With the right combination of concealment charms, repellent spells, and glamours, no one would suspect a thing. Hell, wherever we are probably looks like some rundown house to the casual observer."

[jamesthorn]

James glances down at the food when she serves it in front of him. He dares say it looks delicious, delicious enough that he is willing to risk the off-chance this is all a ruse, and Moira's been waiting to poison his omelet. He places the knife onto one of the other chairs and picks up the fork beside his plate. He eats a small bite, and it's weird that is good. Or maybe he is just so hungry for real food that anything Moira served would have been okay. Though he suspects it isn't just that.

He flicks his eyebrows up in interest at her comments. Concealment? Charms? Things James had no clue about, but he managed to catch the jest. How was anyone ever going to find them if even looking in the right place they wouldn't see them? He takes a couple more bites of his food. "Look, no offense," James says, as the tingle of his cop senses colors the tone of his voice. "The only person I can truly think of that would do this to me, I'm looking at." And Moira didn't kidnap herself into a dangerous pit of hell.

"So. Who did this?" he asks. If she really didn't know, that was another situation all together. But people usually knew their attackers.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira watches as James surveys his food, and she knows he's wondering if she'd poisoned it. She can't help but feel annoyed by the thought; she doesn't know what she did that James automatically assumes the worst of her, but it feels as old as it ever did back in Siren Cove. Still, now that she's eating actual, real food, Moira feels less inclined to voicing her frustrations with James.

"Yes, well, if I were going to ruin your life, why would I bring myself with you into this hellhole?" She points out. "Also, have you maybe possibly considered the fact that I'm not actually out to ruin your life? Just a thought."

She takes another swig of milk before contemplating his question.

"Honestly? The only person I can think of is my mother."

[jamesthorn]

James snorts at her comments. No he has never considered that Moira and her band of Coombs relatives aren't out to ruin his life. They have already taken things from him. Moira and him, they can call a truce. They can do whatever today. But it doesn't change things back in the real world.

Though what is becoming clearer to him is that Moira and her mother have, well, issues. He looks at her, finished enough with his breakfast, that he can push back his plate a little, to fold his arms on the table. "You understand you're saying you think your mother is attempting to kill you?" he asks. "Is this a normal thing in your family...or...?"

[chasingtwisters]

Moira watches him snort and rolls her eyes. Some things never change, she supposes, stupid cops and their dumbass biases included. She can't believe she expected him to actually let up on his ridiculous theory that her and her family (apart from her mother) had anything to do with the tragedies in his own family. But she doesn't want to waste the energy trying to prove him wrong. Not when their own lives are at stake.

"You mistake my meaning," she clarifies once she finishes her own plate. "My mother is toying with both of us for her own amusement." She toys with her fork, as she thinks of her next words. "If she wanted me dead, she'd have encouraged me to take my favorite boat out to my favorite deep sea fishing spot and sent a freak storm right out after me, cleaning up after my body and her own hands."

She doesn't bother hiding the bitterness or anger. She's never confided this in anyone, not even her younger siblings. But if she's potentially going to die in this labyrinth, she wants someone else to know the things her mother is capable of.

[jamesthorn]

James drops his eyes to the table. There is an obvious pain and bitterness in her tone, and he is confused at why she chose to share this with him. Especially since it's obviously a vulnerable subject for her, makes her have something on her and her family. He is confused over why she's let him in on this. That her own mother might wish her dead. "Sorry--" he finally says. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

[chasingtwisters]

"No, it's fine," she shakes her head, and like magic, she's back beneath a mask of careful neutrality, as though she hadn't just shared such a personal subject with James. They really don't have time to linger, not if they want to make it out of here before dark. "If you're done eating, we should get going and see if we can find a way out."

[jamesthorn]

Watching she stands to clear the table and the food she had prepared, James actually has a creeping feeling in his mind that he ended up being the bad guy in that conversation. He is used to being a voice of reason against the magic and the crazies in their town, but not really a bad guy. Just a guy doing his job. He doesn't have time to dwell on it though. Moira is right; they are wasting time and energy here with each other. When they should be trying to find a way home.

He picks up the knife he found and hands her one of the bags he found. "If there's anything you need--" he says, sticking the knife in his own bag, crossing the straps over his body, along with some of the food he found earlier. "I'm ready when you are."

[chasingtwisters]

Moira stuffs some of the remaining food she's found around the kitchen into the bag, quickly finding a couple of empty glass jars and transforming them into water bottles with a quick spell, holding one out to James before going and filling her own. One of these days, she thinks, she is going to have to confront James about the way he assumes that she is the root of all his problems. She suspects she's oversimplifying his attitude problem in her own thoughts, and she knows she doesn't know him well enough to understand his pain.

But time enough for that when they get home and they both have a moment to think things through. She finishes filling her bottle before stuffing it, too, in the bag. She grabs a knife and a fork from the table and quickly transforms them into a pair of daggers. She also casually spells both of their bags to make them as lightweight as air. She doesn't want to take any chances, should they encounter other nasty things in the dark. She's practiced enough in the craft of magic that she can employ it for resourceful uses when the situation at hand calls for it.

"Right, which direction should we head in first?" She asks, suddenly all business.

[jamesthorn]

With some shock and slight annoyance, James watches as Moira transforms the utensils into a pair of small short-handled daggers. Of course. Witches, he thinks, shaking his head, as he follows her out the door. They eventually come back to the corridor where they first entered into the garden. He doubts it makes sense to return the way they came, so he motions them onward.

"Might as well." He takes one last look behind them, where he knows there is safety and shelter. But they can't stay hidden forever. They have to get home. "Let's just stay together," he says, as he starts walking. Ignoring the fact that telling Moira this, is contradictory to their entire relationship, but he just has a feeling it's for the best.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira is petty enough that she takes pleasure in the little annoyed noises James makes as she uses her magic. People always assume that magic is some grand thing, when, in reality, the most complicated and intricate spells focus on the little details. It's one thing to make a rabbit disappear; it's another thing entirely to change the color of its fur.

She follows James out into the garden and towards a path opposite of the way they came into the place. Moira thinks she'll almost miss this place and the odd tranquility of the morning. She shakes her head, knowing such sentimentality to be ridiculous. They need to get out of here, as soon as they can.

"Not something I'd ever think I'd hear you say, but I agree," she says, raising an eyebrow. Hopefully they've made it through the worst of the danger now.

[jamesthorn]

They walk for an hour, maybe even longer. Occasionally, they come across empty rooms and new staircases, but nothing that indicates they are approaching an end, or even approaching something that will help them find a way out of this place. It is an endless series of nothing. Just empty space and walls, and it's started to give James a headache. He feels like they are walking towards nothing, as though they could spend the rest of their lives searching, and at the end of it, they would just find another set of staircases.

Finally, he can't take it anymore. They have to do something else. Something different. After three days, it has become apparent that walking their way out of here, wasn't the way out. He stops suddenly, pacing just a little, trying to think this out the way he would any other case. "You said this place was probably a mirage..." Well, she had called it a charm, a glamour. Whatever. Something that looked like it was here, but really wasn't. "Is there a way to break that? So we can figure out where we really are?" he asks.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira's feet ache from the amount of circles they've walked in now. On the one hand, they haven't run into anything trying to actively kill them, so that's a plus. But at the same time, they've made little to no progress in attempting to get themselves the hell out of this labyrinth. And Moira has to wonder if that's another aspect of this maze, this endless walking, that, in its own way, is a kind of death trap. At least it's not killer bees.

When James stops and asks her if they can break the glamour, Moira feels like she could almost hug him. She also feels damn stupid for not thinking of it sooner, and sparing the both of them the tediousness of trying to walk their way out of this hellhole.

"Well, this place is real enough," she corrects him. "But that doesn't mean that we can't at least try to break out of it and through the illusions surrounding it with magic."

She chews on her lip and taps her fingers against her cheek as she tries to think of various spells that could help them in this situation. She knows she's going to need a more difficult charm or incantation, practically breathing in the heavy, serious magic that oozes throughout this place.

"Okay," she says finally. "I think I've got something that could...wait, what was that?"

Her head whips around, searching for the source of a noise she thinks she's heard. It sounded like snapping twigs, and God knows how many creatures could make that kind of noise.

[jamesthorn]

Listening carefully, as Moira indulges his suggestion about breaking the charm, James thinks they are on the right track for a second. That's why it shouldn't be surprising that the place itself agrees, but the next thing that happens catches them both off-guard. It had been a quiet journey that day so far, so perhaps they should've known better.

But James only has a split second to turn his head, ears perking trying find the noise. He heard it too. Footsteps approaching. Suddenly before either of them has time to say another word, all the fire torches hanging on the walls are blown dead by a cold gust of air that rushes through the passageway. The wind sends a chill down James' spine, and he knows this isn't going to end well.

Reacting quickly, James attempts to catch back up to Moira, where she's standing a few feet away. But he doesn't make it in time. Something catches his ankle and sends him face first into the ground. He hits his chin hard on the floor, and he bites his tongue, making him taste blood in his mouth. Which would be bad enough, if whatever grabbed him wasn't currently dragging him away. Away to God knows where...

"Moira!" James doesn't know if he should tell her to run or if he's yelling for help. He reaches out for Moira's hand though, hoping she can catch him, but the creature that has him is fast. Faster than either of them.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira freezes when a sudden wind extinguishes the lights in the passage, keeping herself still while she tries to figure out the cause of said breeze. They'd both fallen into a false lull of ease and contentment, having eaten and gotten a good night's sleep the previous night. She should have known it was too good to last.

She hears the shuffle of feet in rapid movement, and she turns to reach for James who is only a few feet away from her when the sounds of struggle and of someone, most likely James, hitting the ground with significant force.

"James?" She calls out after him, trying to remember a spell to help improve her vision in the darkness. By the time she utters the incantation, James is no longer where he was previously standing, and all she can do is follow his cries of her name further into the darkness.